Schünemann Storms to Victory in Ghent!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Looking at the top eight of this Legacy Grand Prix here in Belgium, there was always the potential of a lightning fast final, with a number of combo decks still in the running. The crowd were not disappointed, with an all-German final of Elves vs Storm inevitably leading to some quick games.

When the dust settled it was Schünemann holding the trophy, winning the match in a flurry of ritual effects, culminating in a sizeable Tendrils of Agony. All weekend we've seen Legacy to be a diverse and high powered format. Whether casting Show and Tell to sneak some of the most formidable permanents in the game into play, or resolving double digits of spells in a single turn with any manner of combo decks, Legacy shows off the best of the history of Magic. Our top eight included seven distinct archetypes and, in a distinct departure from many recent results, not a single copy of Delver of Secrets. In spite of RUG Delver being the most played deck in the room, it seemed that other options were able to take down the deck that won in Atlanta, with a variety of other options including Maverick, various Show and Tell decks and even Lands finishing high up in the standings.

M13 has made its presence known, with Merfolk and Goblins each getting a shot in the arm with a new powerful creature, and in addition to this Omniscience saw its first significant tournament play as a new piece in the Show and Tell puzzle.

As the sun sets on the Grand Prix here in Ghent, and attentions almost certainly turn to the two Grand Prix happening on the other side of the Atlantic, there will be one man content to rest on his laurels, and be the first of three this weekend travelling home with a trophy. That man is Timo Schünemann, our Grand Prix champion!

What changes would you make to your deck and why would you make them? Plus two Karakas in the sideboard against Maverick and Reanimator. Otherwise I'm ambivalent about the sideboard because I did not draw Jace and Bitterblossom very often.

Quarterfinal - Elias Klocker vs. Elias Watsfeldt

by Rich Hagon

My desire to caption this one as 'The Elias Sports Bureau Presents' is enormous, but since only three of you reading this will understand the reference, I've decided against it. Instead, let's get to the action, with the two Eliaseseses facing each other with a place at the Pro Tour at stake for one of them, Mr. Klocker. Yesterday, Watsfeldt was on the verge of missing out on day two.

"My friend told me that if I didn't make day two, we could go to Paris today to see the last stage of the Tour de France. I don't think I like cycling. I decided that I had better start winning."

Now Watsfeldt finds himself in his second GP top 8, following a quarter final appearance at GP San Diego late last year. Klocker, meanwhile, is in his first elimination match in front of such a big crowd, and a win here would get him the coveted invite to Pro Tour Return to Ravnica in Seattle later this year.

He added a second Noble Hierarch, then watched Watsfeldt cast Lim-Dûl's Vault at end of turn. He plowed his way down to 6 life before he was satisfied with the set of 5 cards from the Vault. That set the stage for an Emrakul turn, presumably...

Game 3

Both players thought hard about their 7s before keeping. Watsfeldt used Personal Tutor for Show and Tell on turn one, Klocker replying with Noble Hierarch. After drawing the Show and Tell, Watsfeldt laid a Swamp, and passed. Watsfeldt looked surprised when Klocker passed without a turn two play. Watsfeldt aimed for Lim-Dûl's Vault at end of turn, which Klocker nodded through. How good a hand could Watsfeldt construct from his 'favorite five'?

Semifinal - Timo Schünemann vs. Elias Watsfeldt

by Rich Hagon

Legacy, you may have heard, is quite a powerful format, where some seriously nutty things go on. If you have heard this, you are not wrong, and if you haven't, you're about to find out how true that is, as both Schünemann and Watsfeldt have some pretty saucy things on the docket.

Semifinal - Emanule Marcotti vs. Lukas Maurer

by Tim Willoughby

Any time there is an Italian in the top 8 of a Grand Prix there is quite a crowd, and with Emanuele Marcotti here now, it was no different. His Esper Stoneblade deck was up against the elves deck of Lukas Maurer of Germany, and if he won, he would be facing Timo Schünemann, also of Germany, but playing a different combo deck in Storm.

Marcotti cast Ponder, seeing Thoughtsezie Lingering Souls and Force of Will. He thought for a little (appropriate considering he was casting Ponder) and stacked things such that Force of Will was on top, to remain safe against anything too explosive from his opponent.

While Marcotti's Stoneforge Mystic had yet to deploy any equipment, the threat of it doing so was enough to keep Maurer honest about entering the red zone. Maurer cast another Green Sun's Zenith, this time finding Ezuri, Renegade Leader. Now he would have an attacking force to be reckoned with.

Marcotti got his Batterskull on, but was looking in ropey shape to team Elf. Heritage Druid would be an efficient source of mana, but Maurer felt no need to rush things.

As Umezawa's Jitte entered the battlefield for Marcotti, and got equipped to the Batterskull Germ, it looked that Marcotti was pulling ahead. In reality he wasn't getting far at all though, as Wirewood Symbiote could bounce Maurer's blocker, meaning that neither lifelink, nor Jitte's triggers would happen.

It was Maurer who had the better draws though, with Elvish Visionary which would be a veritable card drawing machine, especially once he found a second Wirewood Symbiote. The game wasn't over, but it clearly wasn't far off. "I give up" declared Marcotti, scooping up his cards.

"I'll take it" muttered Maurer. He went 1-0 up.

Lukas Maurer 1 – 0 Emanuele Marcotti

Game 2

The Italian's luck with his second opener was not great, but at least neither was Maurer's. Both players took a mulligan. While Marcotti's six card hand was keepable, the same could not be said of his opponent, who went to five.

Soon later Maurer was left in the awkward position of wanting to scoop up his cards, but being unable to due to not having any permanents, as Umezawa's Jitte killed off his lone land.

Lukas Maurer 1 – 1 Emanuele Marcotti

Game 3

The largely Italian crowd was at this point doing Mexican waves while celebrating the win, eager to see their countryman lock up a finals slot. For the rubber game, both players kept, and Maurer started with Pendelhaven and Nettle Sentinel.

Ponder and Gitaxian Probe gave Schünemann the cards he needed, both in hand as well as a seventh in his graveyard. "Finally," he commented. Dark Ritual was chained into Cabal Ritual, followed by two Lotus Petals and an Infernal Tutor hellbent on destruction. Schünemann got Past in Flames, with enough mana floating in his pool to cast it. After that it was all but over. Schünemann flashed back a couple of cards to generate even more mana, re-used Infernal Tutor to find Tendrils of Agony, and pointed the card (and all eleven of its storm copies) at Maurer's head.

Glimpse and lots of creatures followed, among them multiples of Nettle Sentinel, Wirewood Symbiote, and Quirion Ranger, the latter two instrumental in allowing Maurer to keep going. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a single Heritage Druid or Birchlore Rangers and had to pass back to Schünemann. However, after this thwarted combo attempt, the storm player was down to a single card in hand and was simply overrun by Elves on Maurer's next turn.

Timo Schünemann 1 – 1 Lukas Maurer

Game 3

For the deciding game, Schünemann once again kept his seven while Maurer mulliganed ... first to six cards without land, then to: Forest, Wirewood Symbiote, Glimpse of Nature double Elvish Visionay, which he kept.

Final - Timo Schünemann vs. Lukas Maurer

In the end the now infamous Omniscience deck came short a couple of wins, but it did put two of its three pilots into day two, and was one of the early big stories of the tournament. Dumping the ten-mana enchantment onto the battlefield as early as turn one with the help of Ancient Tomb, Lotus Petal, and Show and Tell, former PT champ Simon Görtzen and former GP champ Florian Koch surprised quite a few of their opponents. And casting Emrakul for free is obviously so much nicer than simply putting it on the table by other means.

Hardly anyone ever talks about this card anymore, for pretty much the same reason you don't constantly talk about air or sunshine: people simply take those things for granted. But there may not be another card in the Legacy format whose influence is more pervasive. Whenever people construct a mana base or try to figure out how much mana they can expect to have on which turn of the game, Wasteland is always a factor that can only be ignored at one's own peril.

Bolstered by a strong match-up against the ever-popular Maverick and against the increasing numbers of tribal decks, UW Miracles proved to be a real player this weekend, maybe even a mover or shaker. Terminus certainly shakes things up and moves cards around. Thanks in large part to the one-mana Wrath of God, Legacy finally has a genuine control deck again. Players like Hall of Famer Raphaël Lévy, Max Sjöblom, and Andrea Milillo chose the deck, and the latter two both made it all the way to the Top 8 with it.

When looking at Gitaxian Probe, storm combo does not immediately come to mind, but that's where the card did its best work during this Grand Prix. In champion Timo Schünemann's Ad Nauseam deck Gitaxian Probe provided an extra spell for storm, an extra card in the graveyard to achieve threshold for Cabal Ritual, not to mention that he was able to look at his opponents' hands, allowing him to better time his many discard spells, to better aim his Cabal Therapy, and to know when the way was clear for his combo kill. All at the top bargain price of no card investment and no mana investment at all. Deal!